Netrunner is a Kubuntu-based distribution featuring a highly customised KDE desktop with extra applications, multimedia codecs, Flash and Java plugins, and a unique look and feel. The modifications are designed to enhance the user-friendliness of the desktop environment while still preserving the freedom to tweak. A separate "Rolling" edition, based on Manjaro Linux, was launched in 2014.

Clemens Toennies has announced the release of Netrunner 16, a Kubuntu-based Linux distribution featuring the KDE Plasma 5.3 desktop: "This is the release announcement of Netrunner 16 Main Edition (Ozymandias) 64-bit. 'Why Ozymandias?' you might ask? Here is how it goes: I met a traveler from an antique land... And he told that there once was a mighty king in the land of ancient desktops, called KDE - The King of DEsktops! And though the name and places have changed, its stories are still told and memories recalled. As it is known, there comes a point in time, where all things present must become a thing of the past to make way for the new and shiny. Much like sand exposed to heat is transformed into something new called silicon, Plasma was formed out of the building blocks of its ancestor KDE 4. And so the old king is back – in its new incarnation called Plasma Desktop 5! The Plasma Desktop carries all the DNA of its predecessor and moulds it into something new - a thing of the future, for the next generation to come." Here is the full release announcement with screenshots and several screencasts. Download (MD5): netrunner-16-dvd-64bit.iso (1,902MB, torrent, pkglist).

Clemens Toennies has announced the release of Netrunner 15, a desktop Linux distribution based on Kubuntu 14.10 and featuring the new KDE Plasma 5.2.0 desktop: "We are proud to announce the official release of Netrunner 15 'Prometheus'. Netrunner 15 is revised from the ground up - as the first distribution, it officially ships the new KDE Plasma Desktop 5.2. Therefore, an upgrade from previous Netrunner series with KDE 4.x is neither officially available nor really recommended. This release is 64-bit only. What's new? This release features the brand new KDE Plasma Desktop 5.2, packed together with the freshly released KDE Frameworks 5.7 and Qt 5.4. It takes a great deal of Oxygen and a little of Breeze and mixes them into a blend of tradition and modern. All previous settings and add-ons have been carefully restored to work in this new environment. With Netrunner 15 we took the chance to ship a finely revised set of applications." Read the rest of the release announcement for further details and screenshots. Download (MD5): netrunner-15-dvd-64bit.iso (1,836MB, torrent, pkglist).

Clemens Toennies has announced the release of Netrunner 14.1, an updated build of the project's Kubuntu-based Linux distribution featuring a customised KDE 4.14 desktop: "This is the release announcement of Netrunner 14.1 Main edition 'Frontier'. The '14.1' indicates an updated and polished release of Netrunner 14 LTS on the same underlying base. Since 14.1 is using the same 'Trusty' base as Netrunner 14, there is no need for users of 14 to migrate; simply updating from the shared backports ppa of the Frontier release cycle should give the same result, while keeping customizations in place. So 14.1 is a fresh starting point for new users who want to install an up-to-date KDE 4-based system from the ISO image. This is the first time we are working on both updating our current LTS base (Frontier), while at the same time preparing the next release, Netrunner 15 (Prometheus), with the upcoming KDE Plasma 5.2." Here it the full release announcement with a screenshot. Download (MD5): netrunner-14.1-dvd-64bit.iso (1,453MB, torrent, pkglist).

Clemens Toennies has announced the availability of Netrunner 2014.09.1 "Rolling" edition, a Manjaro-based distribution featuring the KDE 4.14 desktop: "This is the release announcement of Netrunner Rolling 2014.09.1. We are releasing this maintenance shortly after our initial 2014.09 release to fix problems with the NVIDIA driver, and to include a first fix for the Bash shell vulnerability. We also updated Samba file sharing, Kontact accounts and language pack installation. Laptop Mode Tools was replaced by the new TLP to give you better control of your power consumption and achieve a longer battery life with your laptop. With the 2014.09 version we updated Netrunner Rolling to the latest software updates from Manjaro, including Linux kernel 3.14.18 with lots of bugs fixed and new driver support. KDE SC was updated to version 4.14." See the full release announcement for more information and screenshots. Download (MD5): netrunner-rolling-2014.09.1-dvd-64bit.iso (2,350MB, torrent, pkglist).

Clemens Toennies has announced the release of Netrunner 13.12, a Kubuntu-based Linux distribution featuring the KDE 4.11.2 desktop: "The Netrunner team is proud to release Netrunner 13.12 – 32-bit and 64-bit stable. New features: Kicker Menu (Super, Windows or Meta key to invoke); expanding taskbar (drag-and-drop support); sidebar panel (show and hide with F11 or mouse swipe); mouse swipes; new look and feel (desktop theme inspired by this idea); and of course all the usual updates of packages like KDE 4.11.2, Firefox 25, VLC 2.1.1, Skype 4.2 and many more. Note that after the feature freeze (beta), we do not upgrade to latest packages, but stabilize the versions available at that time. Updates are available as usual in the repositories." Here is the brief release announcement with a video demonstrating some of the new features. Download (MD5): netrunner-13.12-dvd-64bit.iso (1,676MB, torrent).

Clemens Toennies has announced the first prototype of Netrunner SE 13.06, where SE stands for the stealth edition of the Kubuntu-based desktop distribution. In this edition, certain software components have been replaced with their more secure counterparts. From the release announcement: "This version of Netrunner is shipped with privacy and
security in mind. This means that you are able to use the Internet more securely and possibly
circumvent censorship. You are able to encrypt E-Mail messages with GPG and chat securely with your friends via text, audio or video. You can encrypt files and folders or use an encrypted home partition. Netrunner SE 13.06 is built upon Netrunner 13.06 and comes with the following features and changes: Firefox with pre-configured Tor, FoxyProxy, HTTPs Everywhere and NoScript (surf anonymously, surf onion links, circumvent censorship); Thunderbird with Enigmail; Vidalia as Tor configuration tool; Pidgin with OTR support for encrypted text chats...." Here is also an introduction to the stealth edition. Download the live DVD image from here: netrunner-se-13.06-amd64-PRT.iso (1,368MB, MD5, torrent).